Exposed to trauma, malnutrition, disease and gender-based violence, mothers and babies in displacement camps often have no access to quality health services. This young mother, Doa’a Ahmad, 24, and her newborn, Ghayyath, are among the 3,000 people who receive sexual and reproductive health care every month at a UNFPA-supported maternity clinic for refugees at the Zaatari camp in Jordan. With support from the European Union, more than 15,500 babies have been delivered here without a single maternal death. 

Women and girls pay an unacceptable price in today’s humanitarian crises. Amid global conflicts, natural disasters and public health emergencies, women do not stop getting pregnant and giving birth. They do not stop caring for their children and families. Yet their sexual and reproductive health needs are often overlooked, with devastating consequences.

UNFPA and the European Union are working together to reach all women and girls in need, offering support during and after crises, and ensuring that humanitarian responses include services for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. Thanks to partners like the European Commission who invest in our work, we can provide women and girls with life-saving services and essential supplies when their needs are greatest. 

Here, meet a few of the women and children who are receiving vital support across the world. © UNFPA Jordan

Souad, 39, has been visiting the Salama centre in Bekaa, Lebanon, for the past two months, receiving free antenatal care, which provides her with a tremendous sense of relief. "It feels great that I don't have to worry about the expenses for the services I am receiving," she says. In addition to the centre, UNFPA supports health facilities, safe spaces, life-skills training and other essential services for women and girls, with funding from EU Humanitarian Aid. © UNFPA Lebanon/Nour Wahid

After fleeing the war in Syria, Rana has been living in Türkiye for six years. “I fought with every kind of difficulty for my daughter’s safety,” she said of protecting her five-year-old daughter, Leyen, who has Down syndrome, from a childhood of war. With funding from EU Humanitarian Aid, and in partnership with the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants, UNFPA supports refugees with disabilities by providing specialized protection services – referral services, translation, psychosocial support, counselling – and helps ensure equal access to protection. © UNFPA Türkiye/Eren Korkmaz

Victoria Doroshenko, 35, gave birth to her third son in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv as her maternity hospital came under attack in the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Her baby then spent a week in the intensive care unit. UNFPA supports maternity hospitals across Ukraine, including the one in Chernihiv, with financial support from the European Union. © UNFPA / Volodymyr Ovsiuchenko

A displaced girl in the city of Sa’ada in Yemen carries a UNFPA dignity kit with essential hygiene items – part of a relief package distributed to newly displaced families through the UNFPA-led Rapid Response Mechanism. More than three-quarters of all displaced persons in Yemen are women and children. With support from the European Union, the multi-agency response team provides emergency relief kits within 72 hours to people who suddenly find themselves displaced. © UNFPA/Yemen

Zinet’s baby is just over a month old. When her city of Diyarbakır in Türkiye was damaged in the recent earthquakes, Zinet had to urgently seek shelter for her newborn and two other children at a camp, where she received support including essential baby items and other vital services. UNFPA is on the ground in affected areas across Türkiye and Syria, assessing and responding to the immediate needs of women following the catastrophic earthquakes.  © UNFPA Türkiye/Eren Korkmaz

This new mother has received both prenatal and postnatal care at a mobile medical clinic in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. UNFPA, with funding from European Humanitarian Aid, supports such clinics in Iraq in order to provide reproductive health services including maternal health care and support for safe delivery. © UNFPA Iraq / IHAO

"I am very grateful to receive this kit,” this mother of four in Syria said when she received a dignity kit from a UNFPA partner, the Syrian Family Planning Association. “It will help me a lot, as we need soap and shampoo. In the shelter, there are no hygiene items at all.” The association is distributing kits with essential hygiene items for women and girls in two shelters – at Bahjat Shouman School and at the Al Nakheel beach resort – following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. © UNFPA Syria